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Killing Lizards

Killing Lizards
B) Write an essay about the text. The Oedipus complex comes from a Greek king, named Oedipus; this king killed his father, because he was in love with his mother. Why Oedipus killed his father, was so he could have her for himself. The psychologist Freud has investigated this case, and he tells us that the “Oedipus complex” is a conflict between the child and the parents of the same sex. The child considers the parents of the same sex as a competitor in the fight for the attention from the parents of the opposite sex.

The short story “Killing Lizards” by William Boyd was published in 1981. The story takes place somewhere in Africa. The short story tells us about a boy Named Garvin, he is 12 years old. Gavin has a sister, she is studying in England, and he lives with his mother and father in Africa. Gavin often dreams about the death of his father and sister, because off his biggest wish, witch is to have his mother on his own. This is a sign of Gavin suffering from Oedipus complex. Even though it is his father and sister, he sees them as a threat between him and his mother. He can’t make them disappear in the real world, but in his dreams and fantasy it is possible. That develops feelings that Gavin can’t control, and to gain that control he kill lizards. Killing lizards make him release his inner aggressions, and give him other thoughts. It is not normal for 12 years old boy to deal with issues like these and especially on his own. Gavin knows that the dreams and the thoughts he have isn’t good, but what should he do? He don’t talk with his parents about it, they haven’t even notice his issues. That is a sign, which tells that Garvin don’t have a good relationship to his parents. He also seems to be overlooked by his family. His sister who used to play with him is at brooding school, and when she is home, she is too busy; she only wants to spend time with their mother. His father seems to work too much, but the person Garvin misses the...

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“Killings” was written by the late Andre Dubus in 1979 (Dubus). According to the article “Andre Dubus,” often the characters that Dubus portray are in tense situations and “sometimes their frustration goads them to infidelity or acts of violence; more often, however, they simply become resigned to their lot” (Contemporary Authors Online par. 9). On the other hand, Matt revenge to committing his murder, which showed loss and consequences are explored in Andre Dubus's, "Killings". A jealous husband, angered by the fact that his estranged wife is involved in a new relationship, acts out in a presumable crime of passion and murders the man she was seeing. As a result of this crime, a father suffers the loss of his son and plots retaliation, which results in the killing of his son's murderer. His “id” was a very jealous husband that didn’t want his wife to be with another man, whereas on the other hand he cared and loved his family. I feel like he didn’t want the sense of betrayal so he chooses to commit a murder. Both men experience a loss and subsequently act out in revenge. The difference in the moral character of these two men is what appears to determine the fate of their consequences.
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The story “A Rose for Emily” was written by William Faulkner. The other story I am using to compare and contrast with is “Killings” written by Andre Dubus. These stories are similar in plot and theme. Both of these stories deal with murder, love and revenge. Though, love and murder are presented in different ways in the two stories. The main character in both these stories are of the opposite sex and they are both the protagonist. “A Rose for Emily” is about a women named Emily Grierson and her mysterious life as a southern belle. While “Killings” is based on a man named Matt Fowler who commits a bad crime.
Faulkner and Dubus start both short stories “A Rose for Emily” and “Killings” with a funeral opening. “A Rose for Emily” opens with “When Miss Emily Grierson died, our whole town went to her funeral: the men though a sort of respectful affection for a fallen monument, the women mostly out of curiosity to see the inside of her house, which no one save an old manservant – a combined gardener and cook – had seen in at least ten years” (Meyer 84). This starts with Emily’s death then goes backwards to tell about her life story. Dubus begins his story with “On the August morning when Matt Fowler Buried his youngest son, Frank, who had lived for twenty-one years, eight months, an four days, Matt’s older son, Steve, turned to him as the family left the...

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...The killing of Candy's dog was related to when George killed Lennie in several ways. First of all, both the dog and Lennie were weak, and killed as soon as they became useless to the society. Also, the dog was Candy's friend, and Lennie was George's friend. In both cases, Slim viewed the deaths as mercy killings. The last similarity was that both Candy and George felt lonely after the death of their companions. The difference was that Carlson killed the dog for selfish reasons, while George killed Lennie out of mercy. This was how the killing of the dog relates to the killing of Lennie.
The society wished both Lennie and the dog dead as soon as they were no longer useful to it. The dog was smelly and old, therefore it became unwanted by the society. Carlson said "God awmighty, that dog stinks. Get him outta here, Candy! I don't know nothing that stinks as bad as an old dog. You gotta get him out." (Pg. 45). This showed that even though he was probably aware of the fact that the dog was Candy's good friend, he did not care. He only cared about his own interests, which were to get rid of an old animal that was useless to him. This showed his self-centeredness, and since Carlson represented the society, it also showed how unwilling the society was to understand its own vice. Slim said "He's all stiff with rheumatism. He ain't no good to you, Candy. An' he ain't no good to himself. Why'n't you shoot him, Candy?" (Pg....

...In the short story “killings” two extremely different characters both deal with loss, love, and revenge which are all explored themes in this story. A violent and jealous Richard Strout kills Frank Fowler for being in a new relationship with his estranged wife Mary Ann. In turn Frank’s parents begin to mourn the loss of their youngest son. Frank’s mother Ruth Fowler was having trouble coping with the loss of her son even more so because of still having to see his murderer while she was running simple errands around the town they lived in and still see him out enjoying life as if he had done nothing wrong “He walks the Goddamn streets”(Dubus,96,1979). Matt Fowler having so much love for his wife decides then wanted to protect and stop his wife’s suffering so she can try to return to her normal life; he also thought that the justice system would fail their family so Matt starts to plot his own revenge on Richard Strout.
This is a story with which both characters Richard Strout and Matt Fowler deal with loss in two completely different ways. Richard’s loss starts with him losing his family because of his jealous and violent ways. Tired of dealing with her husband’s ways Richard’s wife Mary Ann decided they would be better apart rather than together. “Mary Ann was in the process of divorce” (Dubus, 1979, 99). Since this Richard moved out and left his wife and two sons with Mary Ann therefore losing his entire family. Unlike Richard’s loss dealing with...